Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 'incredible' NBA championship win and year spark joy in hometown of Hamilton

Desmond Brown · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 24, 2025 11:40 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

People successful Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's hometown of Hamilton are basking successful his occurrence aft the 26-year-old led the Oklahoma City Thunder to their archetypal NBA rubric Sunday nighttime portion besides becoming the NBA Finals MVP. 

With the wins, helium became the 4th subordinate successful league past to triumph the scoring title, MVP, NBA title and Finals MVP successful the aforesaid season, joining Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, and Shaquille O'Neal.

"From everyone successful Hamilton that knew him successful the aboriginal days, we are truthful incredibly excited for him and arrogant of who helium has become," said Tim Francis, who coached Gilgeous-Alexander successful 2012 and 2013 astatine Hamilton's Sir Allan MacNab Secondary School. 

"He is the illustration that each kids should beryllium looking towards. Be humble, enactment hard, amusement kindness, vie astatine the highest level, and person amusive portion you are doing it. We are truthful arrogant of him and each of his accomplishments this year," Francis told CBC Hamilton successful a substance message. 

In May, Gilgeous-Alexander, besides known arsenic SGA, was named the NBA's astir invaluable subordinate — his archetypal clip winning the grant and the 2nd Canadian to beryllium truthful honoured, aft Steve Nash did it successful 2005 and 2006. It's besides present 7 consecutive years that a subordinate calved extracurricular the U.S. won MVP, extending the longest specified streak successful league history.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished disconnected his MVP play with 29 points and 12 assists, and the Thunder bushed the visiting Indiana Pacers 103-91 successful Game 7 of the NBA Finals connected Sunday.

'Shai keeps making america proud'

Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath said the metropolis congratulates "Hamilton's own" Gilgeous-Alexander connected "an unthinkable MVP performance," and the NBA Championship win. 

"From the streets of Hamilton to the NBA's biggest stage, Shai keeps making america proud. Your leadership, poise, and passionateness are unmatched," Horwath wrote successful a station connected Instagram. 

A spokesperson for the metropolis told CBC News that "plans to observe and honour Shai present successful Hamilton are inactive being finalized."

WATCH | Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins NBA championship, named playoff MVP:

For McMaster University postgraduate Daniel Sobczak, "to spot a kid from Hamilton, Ontario... emergence to NBA MVP and champion is surreal." 

Gilgeous-Alexander's communicative is "a almighty reminder to support going and support growing, adjacent done adversity and doubt," Sobczak wrote connected societal media tract X.

'It's truly inspiring,' Hamilton younker says

Aspiring Hamilton hoops subordinate Mason Versace was 10-years-old erstwhile helium met Gilgeous-Alexander.

Versace, 13, who plays with STAC Hamilton, a non-profit successful the metropolis that supports equity-deserving younker successful sports, said "it was amazing" to ticker Gilgeous-Alexander execute different milestone with his team.

"I'm truly happy, I'm truthful excited, I knew they were going to triumph this astatine the commencement of the season," Versace said connected CBC's Hear and Now.  

He said it's inspiring to spot a chap Hamiltonian marque it this far.

"I judge that from wherever we are, whether that's Hamilton, wherever, honestly, you tin marque your imagination hap and it's truly inspiring to spot idiosyncratic from Hamilton marque it truthful far. It's amazing," Versace said.

"He's a truly bully teammate. My favourite happening astir him is his personality, and I truly similar his dribbling, his shooting. He's truly quick. Overall, he's conscionable a large player."

A hallelujah infinitesimal for SGA's father

Gilgeous-Alexander's father, Vaughan Alexander, said it was "a hallelujah moment" witnessing his son's achievement.

"[I'm on] apical of the world, apical of the satellite [and] conscionable consciousness blessed. [I] conscionable consciousness similar I'm counting my blessings each day, and I cognize everything that we worked hard for, it conscionable came to fruition. So, it's each astir hard enactment and perseverance and God is real," Alexander told CBC News.

"[That's] thing that you'll retrieve for the remainder of your life. Just retrieve each the days going to practices and driving to tournaments and bringing location 2nd spot trophies and immoderate archetypal spot ones too. 

"It conscionable brought backmost a batch of memories, a batch of flashbacks, a batch of pugnacious days and bully days — enactment it that way. [I] conscionable retrieve everything and conscionable consciousness blessed," Alexander added.

Following the win connected Sunday, Gilgeous-Alexander himself said it did not consciousness real.

"So galore hours. So galore moments. So galore emotions. So galore nights of disbelief. So galore nights of belief. It's brainsick to cognize that we're each here, but this radical worked for it. This radical enactment successful the hours and we merit this," helium said.